Thank you Chris Matthews for improving Rand's credibility with anyone who dislikes the IRS which is 80% or more of the voting public.
That said, how does a flat tax, especially one that continues with deductions, abolish the IRS? Somebody has to collect all this money. Smaller IRS yes. And if there are charitable deductions, then there are still people who have to decide what constitutes a charity, which is the heart of the current IRS scandal. (That and election law). Still....Chris does raise the point of what the real question is. What kind of federal government do we really need? If it was shrunk to proper size we might not need any individual income tax, flat or otherwise.